The Practically Perfect Date
by Little Miss Lovejoy
Summary: Miss Frizzle and Mary Poppins go on a date for the first time.


Mary Poppins was straightening the hat atop her head when she heard a honk from outside. Her ride was here. She took a deep breath, lingering a moment longer at the mirror, perhaps a little more nervous about this date than she wanted to admit. "Well, spit spot!" her reflection told her, causing her to purse her lips at the mirror.

Smoothing her white button up blouse and black, pencil skirt, she grabbed her purse and umbrella, leaving her apartment and walking down the steps to her ride. However, upon seeing the big, yellow school bus parked, she stopped in her tracks, eyebrows raised. "What on earth is the meaning of this?" she said aloud, more to herself than anyone in particular.

"Come on, Ms. Poppins!" a woman with red, frizzy hair pulled back in a bun exclaimed, leaning out of the driver's side of the bus, waving.

"Ms. Frizzle!" Mary scolded. "This is not one of your class field trips." She was completely appalled and would not be seen riding around in a school bus.

"Oh, but this bus doesn't take you on just any old field trip," Ms. Frizzle killed the engine, jumping off the steps, revealing her dark blue dress with many odd rings protruding around it. Mary raised her eyes at the woman's odd attire. "Where would you like to go? Mars? The Amazon? The inside of an elephant's stomach? You name it, ol' Bus here can take you there." To Ms. Frizzle, any of those places sounded like a wonderful trip and quite acceptable for a date. Mary Poppins, however, thought otherwise.

"For one thing, Ms. Frizzle, I prefer to travel by umbrella. Another thing, those things you suggest are not suitable for dates. Come on, I will take us on a more pleasant date." She took Ms. Frizzle by the hand, opening her umbrella.

Ms. Frizzle sighed and snapped her fingers, causing the bus to shrink to a tiny size to fit inside her purse. "What could be more pleasant than the inside of an elephant? Obviously you have no taste," she muttered as they started to rise into the sky with the help of Mary Poppins' umbrella. "Fancy," Ms. Frizzle noted aloud.

Once their feet were planted safely on the ground again, they were on an empty sidewalk. Just as Mary had suspected, everyone had gone to dinner by this time, and also as she had expected, the sidewalks were filled with colourful drawings.

"Just as I had suspected, Bert's chalk drawings are here. They always are," She smiled at them, a little fondly.

"They're wonderful drawings, but why are we here?" the frizzy haired woman asked.

"To go on our date, of course. Pick a picture, any picture you like."  
"Hm…That one looks nice for a date," she pointed to a panel.

"Alright then," Mary nodded and took Ms. Frizzle's hand. "On the count of three, jump."

"Jump? What?" She was completely confused. Surely she wasn't meaning to jump into the painting?

"One…two…three!"

Ms. Frizzle did as she was told, however. She couldn't be one to question the impossible. The next thing she knew, they were standing in the middle of a jazz club. "Now this is more like it, Ms. Frizzle!" Mary smiled, as they walked over to a table to sit. The smooth sound of saxophone music soothed the atmosphere as they sat down at their table.

A waiter came by and asked if they would like something to drink and Mary instantly said, "Tea," seeming to disappoint the other woman slightly. Mary noticed and chuckled. "Now, you can have whatever you like," she said, but the woman merely smiled and said she would have the same. Although Mary thought Ms. Frizzle's dress was a bit eccentric, she decided to compliment her to get conversation started. "Well, Ms. Frizzle, you are looking rather lovely tonight."

The woman blushed a little. "Oh, please, call me Valerie."

"Well, in that case, I suppose you can call me Mary," Mary said as she slipped off her white gloves carefully, placing them neatly on the table, as well as her hat.

"Well, Mary. You are quite beautiful yourself," Valerie smiled. "So who is that Bert person, really?" She couldn't help but wonder aloud. "Ex boyfriend?" She took a stab at guessing.

Mary smiled a little. "You could say that. Bert and I had a bit of a relationship like no other. He made me laugh and smile like no one else could, but he wasn't the one for me."

"Well, that's a shame…Or perhaps not," Valerie smiled slyly. After all, she wasn't on a date for nothing. "How would you like to dance, Mary?"

Mary Poppins smiled. "Why not?" she stood up. When Valerie stood after her, Mary suddenly was reminded of the crazy dress Ms. Frizzle had on. "Don't you have anything less…eccentric to wear?"

"Oh? You don't appreciate my solar system dress?" Valerie laughed. "Do you want me to take it off?" she winked.

"What? I beg your pardon!" Mary blushed a little.

Valerie suddenly ripped her dress off, revealing a much tighter, shorter purple dress. "Is this better, dear?" she said in a lower, more seductive tone, making Mary blush again. She wasn't one to be able to blush easily, but Valerie was quite good at making her do so. Ms. Frizzle then raised her hand behind her head, pulling her bun down, shaking her wavy locks out before placing a hand at Mary's waist and taking one of her hands in her own. "How's this?"

"You are beautiful," Mary breathed, as they started to slow dance to the music.

"So are you. You should let your hair down, Mary," Valerie smiled into the woman's eyes.

"Oh, no. I couldn't."

"Come on. Every girl needs to let her hair down once in a while."

Mary hesitated a little, but smiled. "Alright," she said as she unpinned her tight bun, letting her brown hair fall down past her shoulders.

"There, you see? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"You know, when Rachel and Jonathon urged I go out with you, they told me how eccentric you were, and I cannot lie, I was a bit nervous about this." The children she was a nanny for at the time were also in Ms. Frizzle's third grade science class.

Ms. Frizzle laughed. "Well, I am quite eccentric, I suppose. After all, my motto is 'Take chances, make mistakes—!"

Mary interrupted to say, "Oh, I never make mistakes. I am practically perfect in every way."

"And get messy!" Ms. Frizzle finished.

"Well, I don't mind getting messy, as long as we clean up properly afterwards. Cleanliness is next to Godliness."

"Is that your motto?" Valerie chuckled, amused at Mary.

"Oh, no, though I strongly believe in it."

"Well, what is your motto? Everyone has to have a motto!"

With a little smile, Mary began to sing quietly, "Just…a….spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down, the medicine go down. Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way."

Valerie grinned. "You are just as loony as I am."

"Not loony; I just believe that in every job there is an element of fun."

"I like your way of thinking."

"I like you."

"Oh? I'm not too eccentric for you?" Ms. Frizzle raised an eye.

"Oh, I have a high tolerance for just about anything. I think under that eccentric nature, there is a charming young woman, and I plan on finding her." She pulled Valerie just a little bit closer in their dancing, causing her to blush this time.

"Well, Mary, I do believe this could be the start of a good relationship." Suddenly, something poked out of Ms. Frizzle's purse and hopped onto her shoulder. "Liz!" she exclaimed quietly. It was the school's pet lizard. "I thought I told you to stay put. I can't believe you followed me." Liz snickered to herself. She looked back to Mary and said, "You probably think I'm even more eccentric, talking to a lizard, huh?" she smiled sheepishly.

"Not at all. I talk to my own reflection daily."

"You are perfect," Valerie whispered.

"Practically," Mary nodded with a little smile.


End file.
